Exogenous supply of glutamine and active cytokinin to the roots reduces NO3 uptake rates in poplar

Dluzniewska, P.; Gessler, A.; Kopriva, S.; Strnad, Miroslav; Novák, Ondřej; Dietrich, H.
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT 29 [7]: 1284-1297, 2006

Keywords: amino acids; N cycling; trans-zeatin riboside
Abstract: The present study shows for the first time the influence of exogenously applied amino acids and cytokinin on the physiological and molecular aspects of N metabolism in poplar trees. In a short-term feeding experiment, glutamine or trans-zeatin riboside (tZR) was added directly to the nutrient solution. NO3 net uptake declined significantly in response to both treatments. Feeding with glutamine brought about an increase in concentrations of different amino compounds in the roots (glutamine, glutamate, alanine, γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) and NH4+, which negatively correlated with the net NO3 uptake. The plants showed a reduction of cytosolic glutamine synthetase 1 (GS1) transcript level in the roots. In addition, glutamine feeding changed the root-to-shoot distribution on N assimilation in favour of the leaves and plant internal N cycling. tZR treatment resulted in expansion of zeatin-type (Z-type) cytokinins in the roots and increased nitrate reductase (NR)–mRNA level. The results indicate that both particular amino acids and active cytokinins are involved in the feedback regulation of N uptake and metabolism in poplar. We propose that inhibition of N uptake by cytokinins in poplar is more complex than that mediated by amino compounds, and other effectors are involved in this regulation.
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IEB authors: Ondřej Novák, Miroslav Strnad